Martin Carthy

Martin Carthy has been touring for over five decades and there’s certainly a reason for this longevity. The sign of a great folk musician may be that you would turn up just to hear the stories, and that is certainly the case with Carthy. But if the laidback and self-effacing introductions were great, the music was even better. Songs ranging from traditional ballads, such as ‘Sir Patrick Spens’ and the frankly disturbing ‘Heathen Prince’, to comedy ditties about lions and farmers wives tricking the devil showed the breadth of his repertoire. But it was Cathy’s unique, rhythmic guitar playing that was most memorably, with the syncopated notes on marches such as ‘The Downfall Of Paris’ and ‘The Bloody Field Of Flanders’ left ringing exquisitely.

The Greys, 25 November 2013
Rating:
Jenni Davidson